


Time Agents Bearing Gifts

by Cat_Moon



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-03
Updated: 2019-07-03
Packaged: 2020-06-03 13:32:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19465030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Moon/pseuds/Cat_Moon
Summary: Just another take on what Jack might have meant when he said, “never doing that again.”





	Time Agents Bearing Gifts

**Author's Note:**

> Not canon, but takes into account situations up to Exit Wounds and is probably set sometime around The Dead Line. Written in 2009, but I don't remember if I ever posted it anywhere.

It was a typical day at the Hub. They weren’t expecting it; indeed, Ianto would later consider that it reminded him of the time he came home from work one night, blissfully unawares, only to find out hordes of nasty, annoying little ants had invaded his bed (thanks to the cake crumbs Jack had left). Suddenly, right in the middle of a good day, you have to deal with a giant pest.

Jack had come out of his office to consult with his team on their latest alien threat, and Ianto was just about to fix him a coffee. They shared a smile as Ianto made his way over to the machine. Things were… better now. It would take much longer for the scars from the loss of their comrades to heal, but his relationship with Jack had gotten grown steadily closer since then. Maybe it was from clinging together in their mutual grief, maybe it had made them both appreciate each other more. Whatever the cause, Jack spent most nights now at Ianto’s flat rather than the Hub, and despite feeling somewhat awkward while adjusting to the situation, there was also another part of him that was content.

There was no warning, not even a peep from the rift monitors. It was just suddenly… there.

“Surprise!” a loud obnoxious voice rang out, causing their heads to snap quickly toward the sound. “Just in the neighborhood, thought I’d stop by,” John Hart called in an exaggeratedly pleasant voice.

Jack glared at him. “I thought I told you I _never_ wanted to see your face here again?!” Whether he’d helped them in the end or not, the fact remained that John usually brought trouble with him.

Hart affected a wounded gaze. “Is that any way to talk to the father of your child?!” he accused.

If 51st century men were equipped with looks that could kill, John would have been stone cold on the floor from the daggers his ex-partner was shooting at him.

“What the hell do you want?!” Jack growled.

“Language,” John chastised with a shake of his head. “Need a favor,” he continued. “Need you to babysit.”

Before any of them had chance to speak, he drew a figure out from where it had been hidden behind him. It was a little girl, with dark brown hair and big blue eyes.

Ianto stared into the very familiar eyes of this stranger. He blinked. Through his shock he managed to slide a sideways glance at Jack. He’s never seen in lover quite that startling shade of pale before, not even when he came back to life after Abaddon. Jack’s eyes were riveted to the child, his mouth slightly open.

Good job Gwen was stunned speechless for one of the rare times in her life, because the others wouldn’t have noticed she was there if she’d been starkers on top of the desk singing “God Save the Queen.” Again. (But really, they’d all been much too drunk that New Year’s Eve so nobody remembered it anyway).

“Jack – who is this?” Ianto questioned, eyes darting back and forth between his lover and the child, finding more resemblance each time he did.

Ianto saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed before answering. “My daughter.”

“Jaxanna, this is Eye C—uh Ianto, and the nice lady over there pretending to be a fish is Gwen,” John told her, keeping his hands on her shoulders. He nodded at Ianto. “You can call him Tad, if you want.”

“What have you done?!” Jack hissed at Hart, the cold tone more scary than his earlier growl.

Ianto saw Jaxanna flinch minutely closer to her father, but it seemed neither parent noticed, locked as they were in a battle of eye contact.

“Nothing!” John fired back, eyes flashing in anger. “Her…the couple who…adopted her were killed in a space hopper accident.” He shrugged slightly, demeanor turning a bit less cocky. “I’ve checked up on her once in awhile over the years. When I found out…” he trailed off, momentarily silent. “I figured, since you’re settled down and all now…”

Jack seemed stunned into speechlessness again.

Then Ianto did something that surprised all of them, including himself. “Milk!” he said into the silent room, his voice echoing slightly as he stepped forward. “And…biscuits. I think we can find some milk and biscuits. Would you like some?” he asked the young girl, smiling to try and put her at ease.

Jaxanna nodded shyly, and Ianto steered her away from the others with a surprisingly protective hand on her shoulder, drawing her away from the adult issues being discussed. Trying to ignore the strange pang somewhere in the vicinity of his chest.

Later, that night at…home, Jack would explain in halting words that stumbled over themselves, that he hadn’t been joking about male pregnancy in the 51st century, how it was normally only possible with the aid of certain medications -- assuring Ianto that 21 century Earth had contraceptives in the rain which prevented the possibility. However, the atmosphere of the planet he’d been stuck with John on, unfortunately, had just the opposite effect. There was no question of a young, wild Time Agent keeping a baby, so they’d entrusted her to the care of a loving couple who’d given her a good life. Apparently now though, they were dead. John had brought Jaxanna back in time with him, and she no longer had a home.

“Yes. She _does_.” Was all Ianto said.

The end

11/09/09


End file.
